Spring’s hottest innovations

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What about a desk that remembers your preferences? Or a modern conference sofa that challenges traditional design ideas? We checked out this spring’s most exciting innovations from Kinnarps.

Do you remember what things were like only a few years ago? Afraid to miss a telephone call, we all sat glued to our desks from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in little compartments bursting with files. Not to mention meeting rooms which looked more or less the same, with a long row of chairs around a gigantic conference table. As if you really had to summon at least a dozen people in order to hold a meeting! Formal and a bit stiff. All that is naturally quite different today. The workplace environment has undergone one of the fastest and most radical changes in our society. Largely thanks to technological developments, of course. When we carry an office in our pocket and all technical data can be accessed from a cloud, a scope is created for new thinking and innovations. One of the strongest trends apparent at present is towards flexibility: furniture must fulfil several functions and be adaptable to new situations and environments. The activity-based workplace has come to stay! Here we take a closer look at the most exciting innovations from Kinnarps.

It’s now 25 years since Kinnarps launched its first vertically adjustable desk. At that time, many people questioned its usefulness, but Kinnarps dared to go its own way then as now. “It’s important for us to be pioneering thinkers, so I’m particularly proud of our latest project, which really does go outside the box,” says Per Enskär, International Product Manager for Office Desks.Oberon is a smart desk that satisfies all the demanding requirements that come with an activity-based workplace. Among its many ergonomic and ingenious features, we would single out the special control unit which can be programmed according to the user’s wishes. The user does not have to spend time and energy precisely adjusting the height of the desk, as it quite simply “remembers” the user’s preferences. Oberon is available as a desk, a meeting table or coffee table, and in a series of diverse combinations with regard to size, material and shape.Are you wondering about the name? It has a particular history. Oberon was named after the King of the Fairies in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Appropriately, as this series of tables is like a Shakespeare play – unique, innovative and based on classical foundations!

In the new climate of thought it is becoming increasingly important to have multi-functional furniture that encourages creativity and meetings between people. Can you think of a better example of that than Libra? A playful wave-shaped sofa bench. Just as appealing to the eye as it is wonderfully comfortable and with an open design which makes it easy to place in either modern or more classical surroundings.

“We can also offer an almost unlimited selection of colours and fabrics from Kinnarps’ large collection,” says Ulrika Liffner, International Product Manager for Soft Seating & Reception.A coffee, a quick meeting: demand for this type of laid-back furniture will grow as workplaces change. Libra has a well deserved place in the room.

Rectangular or round? Do you find it hard to find a coffee table that exactly fits your needs? May we suggest Combine, a series of tables with a focus on combination. Simply choose between a range of diverse shapes, materials and heights. With Combine, you decide. Why not combine four or five tables together?“We see many companies today who want to create personalised furniture, something unique specifically for their organisation. An ideal situation in which to choose Combine,” says Ulrika Liffner.

What irritates people most of all in a workplace? Almost everyone agrees that disturbing noises are the main energy dissipator. So Kinnarps asked designer Christian Halleröd to develop a creative and functional room divider which can remedy the problem. The result is Prim – a series of elegant and tremendously practical sound absorbers consisting of ceiling, floor and desk screens. It’s worth noting that Prim has been tested and evaluated in collaboration with Acoustic Facts, with really good results. Also, Kinnarps uses the re:fill padding, a unique material made of production waste. A good example of how important it is to consider the entire life process – “from cradle to cradle”.